Donald Trump in Texas: Hurricane Harvey a Storm of ‘Epic Proportion’

President Donald Trump traveled to Texas on Tuesday to get an update on the ongoing rescue efforts after Hurricane Harvey devastated the state.

“This was of epic proportion. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this,” Trump said, praising Texas as “a very special place and a special state.”

The president and First Lady Melania Trump visited a fire station in Corpus Christi, Texas together with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.

Trump praised local officials for their response to the disaster.

“We don’t want to say congratulations,” he said. “We’ll congratulate each other when it’s all finished.”

He commented on the long recovery effort facing the state after the storm, promising to help the communities affected to rebuild.

“We want to do it better than ever before,” Trump said. “We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as, ‘This is the way to do it.’”

FEMA administrator Brock Long urged citizens of Texas to assist each other in the wake of the storm.

“Neighbor helping neighbor is going to be needed in helping Texas overcome,” Long said.

Governor Abbott thanked Trump and his administration for their assistance.

“I want to express my deep gratitude to the president, for him and his entire cabinet and staff for what they’ve done over the past couple weeks,” he said. “The president and his cabinet remained in constant contact with me and my staff, and they all had one thing to say. Texas, what do you need? how can we help?”